


Definitely Unsneaky Suspicions

by Corrosion



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Not Beta Read, cissnei's character is really hard to write (sorry)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 14:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7644742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corrosion/pseuds/Corrosion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kunsel has landed himself in a spot of trouble and Cissnei's the one who has to investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Definitely Unsneaky Suspicions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [firenewt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/firenewt/gifts).



In a post-lunch stupor, Kunsel slumped against the wall of the SOLDIER lounge, head tilted a bit to the side and PHS out. He was on sitting on the floor, partially because he wasn’t currently feeling up to the task of standing up, but mostly because of the various fluids on the couch that had been washed in approximately never providing a legitimate incentive to just stay on the floor. Nothing too interesting was going on in his immediate vicinity, at least according to his algorithms. Yes, the Department of Administrative Research also tracked social media for information, but Kunsel had the distinct advantage of being friends with his fellow SOLDIERs and receiving private messages from them and also not being a widely-hated figure. 

 

The soft tap-tap of dress shoes’ wide heels alerted Kunsel to a person he hadn’t heard on the SOLDIER floor as of yet. Without even glancing up from his PHS, he determined that it was a Turk: a measured, even pace that the ungraceful executives could never hope to match; steps that didn’t call overly much attention to them, different from the attention-grabbing march-like thud of much of SOLDIER; steps that stopped right before him, unlike those of people who didn’t want to screw him over. “Yes?” he asked, still not looking up from his PHS. He was not prepared for this in the least, but he could do his best to pretend.  

 

“Oh, it’s nothing that you really have to worry about,” Cissnei said, “I just wanted to talk to you about what you sent to Zack.” ShinRa had to keep a close eye on its most powerful force, after all; most of its members had little to worry about as they were expensive to create and could cause large amounts of property damage if upset or merely fooling around. Most of the Turks viewed much of SOLDIER as large and especially destructive dogs: energetic, easily distracted, and not too terribly aware of their surroundings. Kunsel was on the more lethargic side, tenacious, and hyperaware. What he was doing in SOLDIER was a mystery to them all. 

 

Kunsel looked up from his PHS and tilted his head. “‘What I sent to Zack’? I send a lot of things to Zack. In just the last hour, I told him not to go to that new diner because all they do is heat up prepared food in a microwave, not to eat a certain brand of sugar-free gummy bears because of the side effects, and that there’s a highly-rated but inexpensive restaurant in the Sector 7 slums if he wants to take his girlfriend.” If they didn’t ask he what specifically he sent Zack, then, well, he would deflect for days. 

 

Cissnei sighed. Normally, when a Turk asked someone, verbatim, what they had done, the victim frantically tried to excuse their actions. “The message you sent to him about Banora,” she clarified. 

 

“That information is completely free to the public! Why are you asking me?” That sidestep had the advantage of being perfectly true. The fault couldn’t lie only with him. After all, the company had released its tax records (all funneling back to ShinRa, but the thought remained) with a public goal of increasing transparency and a private one of shutting the investors up. It was not illegal to read them and jump to certain conclusions. How close those conclusions came to the truth was entirely out of ShinRa’s hands, or so Kunsel liked to believe. Okay, so maybe he had prior knowledge of ShinRa’s shady cover-ups, but it was not necessarily illegal, just highly questionable, to send that information to Zack. 

 

Cissnei sighed again; what the company said and what it did were often completely at odds, but that was the rare occasion that what was promised was delivered. “We just wanted to make sure that the company’s information was secure.” It really was a routine check-up. Keep an eye on both the company’s assets and those posed to deal the greatest damage to it at the same time. “So you checked those records? That’s good; not many people do it.” There wasn’t much else she could say.

 

“Yeah, so if I could get back to catching up on my mail, that would be great,” Kunsel, hoping to get as far away from that topic as possible. 

  
  


“Well, then, I’ll be seeing you around some more,” Cissnei said, and turned on her heels to walk away.

 

* * *

 

  
  


After the Modeoheim mission, Kunsel had tried everything he could to cheer Zack up while still being sensitive to his feelings. Admittedly, he was not very good at coming off as warm and supportive as opposed to creepy. He had seen Cissnei, the only Turk that he was on talking terms with, and asked her what had gone down in the defunct bathhouses. Her only response was that Tseng either didn’t know or wasn’t forthcoming with the necessary information. 

 

* * *

 

  
  


After it was discovered that Genesis was still alive and kicking, Cissnei had come up with the wonderful idea that Zack deserved a fan club. Kunsel nearly leapt at the chance to be a founding member--how convenient it would be to gather information on what sort of people also liked Zack and showcase his devotion to him at the same time.  

 

* * *

 

  
  


Cissnei sat down with a small sigh, having meticulously set up the various paraphernalia displays of the inaugural meeting of the Puppy Patrol. Behind glass cases there were materia that Zack had created and then donated to the Materia Development of the Science Department, saving them with the constant usage of their machines. The rest of the material were pictures, official and otherwise (all taken in public, and with Zack’s permission; Kunsel only invaded privacy if it was a life-or-death situation); local newspaper articles about his exploits; and an entire book of uniquely Zack sayings. Both she and Zack were determined to not besmirch Zack’s name by allowing the fanclub to degenerate into something that would harass others. 

 

The door opened a few minutes later, with Kunsel leading a few others that he had spread the word to. Cissnei herself had checked for criminal records and the possibility of one of them being a Wutaian spy, but it seemed that Kunsel knew how to pick them. They filed in, and Cissnei stood up from her chair to begin to address them once they had settled into their own chairs. 

 

“Hello! Welcome to the first meeting of the Puppy Patrol,” Cissnei said. She wasn’t big on public speaking, but could manage it with a small crowd. “Since this is a small crowd, why don’t we start by introducing ourselves?” She, of course, knew the names of everyone in the room, but apparently people got weirded out if you said their name without being introduced first. “I’m Cissnei.” Kunsel had helped craft the opening speech out of the business-plan-esque five-hundred-word-long monster that was Cissnei’s plan A. So maybe it had a clear list of goals and detailed step-by-step how to achieve each one of them, but at least she could make one, unlike some of ShinRa’s executives. 

 

As they went around introducing themselves in a clockwise fashion, Cissnei grew more and more confident. Nothing like having everything going according to plan to boost the spirits. 

 

“Now that that’s cleared up, I’m going to go over the rules.” They had decided that Kunsel would be the one to inform the fans of the rules since he knew them better than Cissnei did and so would be less intimidating. “First: don’t harass Zack. I mean, don’t stalk him, ask intrusive or inappropriate questions, take photos of him without his permission, or touch him without permission. Second: don’t harass the members of the other fanclubs.” He steeled himself for this; fights had broken out before among members of the other fanclubs before, and he wouldn’t put it past people if Puppy Patrol got larger and more influential. 

 

“This means that you won’t send hatemail to them, you won’t slander them, and, for the God’s sakes, don’t dox them. I don’t care if you really don’t like them, just don’t reveal their personal information online--that’s immature and can-” Kunsel paused mid-rant, as fans were watching him like Nibelhiem’s Zus watch small and unattended children. In his hurry to cover all the bases that he was familiar with, he had completely forgotten physical altercations. “Er, also don’t get into fistfights with them.” There--he had said his piece.

 

As the meeting went on, someone eventually broached the topic of Angeal Hewley. Cissnei looked to Kunsel, but it seemed that he wanted to take the initiative on that topic. 

 

“Hewley? We have excommunicated him,” Kunsel said, decisively. That man no longer had the right to say that he cared for Zack, even in the shallow, materialistic way that his fans might. No matter that he was dead--Kunsel was all for speaking ill of the dead in this case. He hadn’t told Zack of his own suspicions of what had gone down in Modeoheim; no sense to upset him further by asking about it bluntly; Kunsel would never forgive himself if his suspicions were wrong and their friendship ruined. 

 

Cissnei turned to the rest of the members and said, “Excommunicated? He was never in the fanclub to begin with.” There. Now, there was no question of what exactly her opinion of that man was. 

 

* * *

  
  


The disastrous Nibelheim mission, the mission that managed to kill the last two remaining SOLDIERs that were truly famous, both distanced and brought closer Kunsel and Cissnei. While it was definitely impossible for Cissnei to do anything about Zack being held in the Nibelheim Mansion, she could try to concentrate on making sure that Kunsel didn’t also leave the company and get himself killed. He believed that the message that Zack had been killed in action was simply another cover-up for yet another SOLDIER leaving the company. Once he had enough information and connection, he would leave to join him. 

 

* * *

  
  


Cissnei was...distressed with the outcome of the confrontation in the Midgar Wastes. She had told Zack to escape while he could, cautioned him against doing what ShinRa could predict, but he had thrown himself into danger. Kunsel was, understandably, wracked with both grief and rage, but followed orders the same as always, careful not to land too much suspicion on him. In exchange, Cissnei helped with what she could, forging a new identity and faking his death on a mission with the promise that they would keep in touch. 


End file.
